Gaetz to Newsmax: Shutdown Cure for 'Disease' of Spending

Stressing that a government shutdown is not what he wants, Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., nonetheless told Newsmax on Friday that a "short, temporary shutdown" might be the best prescribed medicine to cure the "disease" of spending in the federal government.

Gaetz told guest host Kimberly Guilfoyle on "Rob Schmitt Tonight" that he has become the target of criticism from members of his own party in the stalemate on spending bills to keep the government open. The deadline is Sept. 30.

Gaetz began by parroting an argument he heard from a fellow GOP House member. He said: "'Gosh, if things in my district were not able to make a case based on merit for their inclusion in the federal budget, I wouldn't want them removed. And so that's why I'm against the Gaetz plan.'"

"I thought that was a particularly interesting take," Gaetz added.  

"But it is indicative of the disease that has infected this place, where we just keep doing the same thing over and over," he told Guilfoyle. "I think we need to break the fever. That means even if we have a small, temporary shutdown, which I don't want, it might be worth it if it resulted in a paradigm change in how we budget in Washington."

Gaetz wants a return to a process where agencies "come before us, present their budgets ... and let the votes fall where they may."

Then "let the Democrats get up and explain why American taxpayers are paying for gay pride parades in Prague. Let them explain why we're paying the Department of Homeland Security to take people from the border and distribute them all over the interior of our country. If we had this opportunity, I think we would broaden the conservative base. 

"We might just save the country while doing so."

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